CVE-2023-38619
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes integer overflow vulnerabilities in GTKWave's VZT facgeometry parsing that can lead to arbitrary code execution when a malicious .vzt file is opened. Users of GTKWave 3.3.115 who open untrusted waveform files are affected. The vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on the victim's system.
💻 Affected Systems
- GTKWave
📦 What is this software?
Gtkwave by Tonybybell
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via arbitrary code execution leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or system compromise when users open malicious waveform files from untrusted sources.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if users only open trusted files and GTKWave runs with minimal privileges.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code found in references, but technical details are published.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Fixed in later versions; check Debian security updates for specific patched version.
Vendor Advisory: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update GTKWave to latest version from official repository. 2. For Debian systems: apt update && apt upgrade gtkwave. 3. Verify installation of security updates.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict .vzt file handling
allConfigure system to open .vzt files only with trusted applications or in sandboxed environments.
Run with reduced privileges
allExecute GTKWave with non-administrative user privileges to limit impact of successful exploitation.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict GTKWave usage to trusted .vzt files only from verified sources.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code from GTKWave process.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check GTKWave version: gtkwave --version. If version is 3.3.115 or potentially earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
gtkwave --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify updated version no longer contains vulnerable code by checking version number and testing with known safe .vzt files.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected GTKWave crashes when opening .vzt files
- Unusual process spawning from GTKWave
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from GTKWave process to unexpected destinations
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'gtkwave' AND (command line contains unusual arguments OR child process is suspicious)🔗 References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
- https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
